Wednesday, June 6, 2012

NGUYỄN THIÊN THỤ * BUDDHA'S MIDDLE PATH IV

Part
iv

Following

The Buddha’s teachings

The first simile compares
Buddha to the sun, for his appearance in the world is like the sun
rising over the horizon. His teaching of the true Dhamma is like the net of the
sun’s rays spreading out over the earth, dispelling the darkness and cold of
the night, giving warmth and light to all beings. The sun is very high and far
from us, how can we apply the sun’s light and
heat to our lives?

Chapter
xi

THE BUDDHIST SCHOOLS

History
of philosophy, religion and politics is
a history of separation, change or
development. There are two tendencies. When some people want to change, to
improve following the development, and demand of their time, the others want to
conserve their tradition. They discussed, even killed each other. At one time
at an Ghosita's monastery in Kosambi, after hearing the stories of some groups
of Brahmins who had disputed and quarrelled among themselves, the Blessed One said to his disciplines:

Bhikkhus, there are
six things which conduce to reverence, unity, friendliness and love for each
other. What six: Here, bhikkhus, the bhikkhu should be established in bodily
actions of loving kindness towards co-associates in the holy life openly and
secretly. . . Again, the bhikkhus should
be established in verbal actions of loving kindness towards co-associates in
the holy life openly and secretly. Again the bhikkhus should be established in
mental actions of loving kindness towards co-associates in the holy life openly
and secretly. . . Again bhikkhus, gain
rightfully obtained, as far as what is put into the bowl, the bhikkhu would not
partake without sharing equally with the co-associates in the holy life. .
.Again the bhikkhus becomes equal in virtues with the co-associates in
the holy life openly and secretly.
. . Again the bhikkhus become equal with the
co-associates in the holy life in the noble view that leads to the beyond..
. .. This too is a thing that conduces
to reverence, unity, friendliness and love for each other. Bhikkhus, these are
the six things that conduces to reverence, unity, frendliness and love for each
other.[1]

After
the Second Council, many Buddhist schools raised. Each school had a number of
followers. Following the Buddha’s teachings, we have to go to reverence,
unity, friendliness and love for each other.The World Fellowship of Buddhists was
founded in 1950 in Colombo, Sri Lanka by representatives from 27 nations. It
now has regional centers in 35 countries, including India,
the United States, Australia, and several nations of Africa and Europe, in addition to
traditional Buddhist countries. It is a
wonderful occasion for the union of the international Buddhism. On the other hand, we also live in harmony
with other schools and other religions
in reverence ,friendliness
and love for each other .

In
Buddhism, there is a profound reason. Some monks in the olden time realized
that a lot of people could not practice Zen, so they opened many new ways for many kinds of Buddhist.
Therefore many Buddhist schools have
risen such as Theravada, Tibetan Buddhism, Pure Land Buddhism and Zen . Avatamsaka
Sutra (The Flower Adornment Sutra)suggested the Ten Inexhaustible
Treasuries, or ten ways to
follow Buddha s’ teachings:

In general, those ways are
not different from the Buddha s’
teachings. Thanks to the freedom of expression, and thoughts, many Buddhist
schools developed. The development of Buddhism
leads to the development of
philosophy , arts and literature.

CHAPTER Xii

theism and ATHEISM

Some priests of some religions and
some Buddhists considered that Buddhism is atheism. In early Ancient Greek, the adjective (ἄθεος,
from the privative ἀ-
+ θεός
"god") meant "godless". In English, the term atheism
was derived from the Frenchathéisme
in about 1587. The term atheist (from Fr. athée),
in the sense of "one who denies or disbelieves the existence of God",
predates atheism in English, being first attested in about 1571. Most
recently, there has been a push in certain philosophical circles to redefine atheism
negatively, as the "absence of belief in deities’’. A numbers of the
atheists assume that theism and religion are equivalent. The Marxists disgusted
religion, and considered religion as opium. There is also a conflict between religion and science because the
scientists criticized that the theists have no prove of their God‘s existence. Some philosophers
denied God, they said that God was dead. .
.. In a word, the
atheists deny all the metaphysical matters including God and Gods.

There are some discussions about
religions. Different cultures caused different opinions. Western scholars
focused on God, although each religion has it own God and their own notion of
God. In the Eastern culture, religion is
a path to truth, and God is not their goal.
The Western scholars affirmed the existence of an omnipotent God, the creator of the
world or of the human race. Some scholars considered Buddhism as atheistic
because of many reasons:

(1). Buddhism is a religion without God or
Gods.

(2).The Buddha denied Atman, a permanent
soul. According to the Brahman philosophy, God is the great Atman, and man, the
little Atman. Atman of man and Atman of the universe are one. Buddhism insists
that the soul is not a rigid,
unchanging, self-constituted entity, but a living, complex, changing.

(3).The law of cause and effect, and the
law of ‘’Dependent Origination’’ are like the scientific laws, that make no
appeal to the idea of creator God. The phenomena arise as the result of
preceding causes and in turn become the causes of future phenomena themselves.

(4). Nibbana is only a state of mind.

On the contrary, Buddhism is not atheistic
because the Buddhists believe in the existence of the afterlife, and Nibbana. All religions have the same goal of hapiness for their
afterlife. When the goal of many
religions is God or Gods in the Heaven,
the Buddhists try to attain Nirbana, where is the endless of Sufferings. Buddhist cosmology recognizes various levels and
types of gods (devas),
and the worlds of God (Heavens) are the happy places but none of these gods
is considered the creator of the world or of the human race. Even though a
Creator God is not affirmed, the existence of gods is affirmed: in many
passages in the Tripitaka, Gotama
Buddha spoke about gods and gave specific examples of individuals who were
reborn as a god, or gods who were reborn as humans. Such beings are not eternal
and are subject to death and eventual rebirth into lower realms of existence. Anyway,
the worlds of Gods are the happiest places in six destinations. Moreover,
Gods, Buddha and Buddhists have had a close relationship:

Lord, those gods who
arose in the heaven of the Thirty-Three before I did have told me and assured
me that whenever a Tathágata, a fully enlightened Arahant Buddha arises in the
world, the ranks of Devas increase, and those of asuras decline in numbers. In
fact I have witnessed this myself. There was, Lord, right here in Kapilavatthu
a Sakyan girl called Gopika who had faith in the Buddhas, the Dhamma, and the
Sangha, and who observed the precepts scrupulously. She rejected the status of
a woman and developed the thought of becoming a man. Then, after her death, at
the breaking up of the body, she went to a happy destination, being reborn in a
heaven state among the Thirty Three Gods, as one of our sons, becoming known as
Gopaka the devas’ son.[3]

Although somereligious scholars and Buddhist monks insist that the Buddha is neither God nor
incarnation of God, the Buddha is
not a regular man, but a supernatural
being. In this world, Gotama
is the Buddha, and in his previous lives, he
had been also Buddha. He recalled his varied lots in former existences
as follows:

Monks, ninety-one aeons ago the Lord, the
Arahant, the fully enlightened Buddha Vipassi arose in the world. Thirty-one
aeons ago, the Lord Buddha Sikhi arose; in the same thirty-first aeon before
this Lord Buddha Vessabhu arose. And in this present fortunate aeon the Lord
Buddhas Kakusandha, Konagamana, and Kassapa arose in the world. And, monks, in
this present fortunate aeon I too have now arisen in the world as a fully
enlightened Buddha[4]

Gotama Buddha is
known as being a "teacher of the gods and humans", superior to both
the gods and humans in the sense of having nirvana or the
greatest bliss (whereas the devas or gods of the Vedic era were still
subject to anger, fear, sorrow, etc.). Many sutras recorded the conversations between
the Buddha and the gods. And the gods
respected the Buddha so much:

Then Sakka, the deva-king, touched the earth with his hand and said
three times, "Homage to the Worthy One, the Blessed One, the Rightly
Self-awakened One! Homage to the Worthy One, the Blessed One, the Rightly
Self-awakened One! Homage to the Worthy One, the Blessed One, the Rightly
Self-awakened One!"

While this explanation was being given,
there arose to Sakka the dustless, stainless Dhamma eye -- "Whatever is
subject to origination is all subject to cessation" -- as it also did to
[his following of] 80,000 other devas.[5]

The most significant Northern Buddhism innovation was the view of the Buddha as a
supernatural being who assumed a transformation body (nirmana-kaya) to be born
as the historical Buddha. Some Northern Buddhism sutras envision the Buddha as the
"god above the gods", as a primal, eternal, sustaining essence within
all beings and phenomena, while some Tantras paint
a portrait of the Buddha on a cosmological scale and in cosmogonic terms as the
emanator of all universes. In
Pure Land Buddhism, by the power of his vows, Amitābha has made it possible for all who
call upon him to be reborn
into this land. Avalokiteśvara
or Avalokiteshvar is the most widely revered bodhisattva in Buddhism. Avalokita
is perceiver of the suffering sound of the worlds. In East Asia, Avalokiteśvara is known as 觀音Guan Yin
or Kannon/Kanzeon, the Goddess of Mercy, and is generally
represented as female.

In Vietnam, people
have beliefs in the Buddha and Guan Yin, and in a lot of fairy stories, the
Buddha appeared and saved poor people. In the heart of Vietnamese people,
and in literature, Buddha and
Avalokiteśvaras were the
kind faces, the supernatural beings, who love them and protect them.

In general, Buddha was a "teacher of the gods and humans", superior to
both the gods and humans. Buddhism is not atheist
nor theist. Buddhism is a middle way between two extremes. Buddhism is a
religion of love and wisdom.

CHAPTER XIII

SELF reliance
AND

faith
in god or goods

Faith in God or
Gods is an important factor in many religions. Many people believe in God or
Gods, because God and Gods are just and kind. Therefore, God or
Gods can not protect the wicked persons:
皇天無親惟德是輔God is
impartial, God always helps the virtuous
persons[6]

Confucius said:

獲罪於天無所禱也When you have offended against Heaven, there is nowhere you can turn to in
your prayers.'[7]

The decisive cause and result of our life is our personality, our
virtues and our deeds. The Buddha always
taught his disciples to try to be as self reliant as possible, not to become
dependent upon God or other forces.

Householder, it is not
suitable that the noble disciple should long for fame or take pleasure in fame;
rather he should fall to the method conducive to fame, either heavenly or human.[8]

In the last day
of his life, the Buddha taught Ananda:

33. Ananda, be islands unto yourselves,
refuges unto yourselves, seeking no external refuge; with the Dhamma as your
island, the Dhamma as your refuge, seeking no other refuge.[9]

If a Buddhist want to attain Nirvana, he has to fulfill his duties: performing virtues and practicing meditation by effort, earnestness and self-control:

"One who is aroused to practice is one of
conviction, not without conviction. One aroused to practice is one with
persistence aroused, not lazy. One aroused to practice is one of established
mindfulness, not muddled mindfulness. One aroused to practice is centered in
concentration, not uncentered. One aroused to practice is discerning, not
undiscerning. [10]

Buddha
was open minded; he always showed us the middle way. Self confidence and self striving are very
necessary for us. It is our main strength to aim our goal, but sometimes
we also need help of others Besides the self confidence, the Buddhists
need the help of the Buddha, and other forces such as the Dhamma, Bodhisattva, even
God:

Furthermore, there is the
case where you recollect the Dhamma: 'The Dhamma is well-expounded by the
Blessed One. .. And when the mind is
headed straight, the disciple of the noble ones gains a sense of the goal,
gains a sense of the Dhamma, gains joy connected with the Dhamma. In one who is
joyful, rapture arises. In one who is rapturous, the body grows calm. One whose
body is calmed experiences ease. In one at ease, the mind becomes concentrated

"Furthermore,
there is the case where you recollect your own virtues: '[They are] untorn,
unbroken, unspotted, unsplattered, liberating, praised by the wise,
untarnished, conducive to concentration Furthermore, you should recollect the
devas: 'There are the devas of the Four Great Kings, the devas of the
Thirty-three, the devas of the Hours, the Contented Devas, the devas who
delight in creation, the devas who have power over the creations of others, the
devas of Brahma's retinue, the devas beyond them . [11]

There
is the case where the disciple of the noble ones is endowed with verified
confidence in the Awakened One. . . the
Teacher of divine and human beings, awakened, blessed.' . .
. .

Furthermore, the disciple of
the noble ones is endowed with verified confidence in the Dhamma: 'The Dhamma
is well-expounded by the Blessed One. .
.Furthermore, the disciple of the noble ones is endowed with verified
confidence in the Sangha: 'The Sangha of the Blessed One's disciples who have
practiced well . . . These are four
bonanzas of merit, bonanzas of skillfulness, nourishments of bliss."[12]

In reality, the Buddha used his power to help
a lot of people. The
Buddha helped Moggalàna when he practiced meditation. He told us his story:

Friends, then I secluded the mind from
sensual desires and thoughts of demerit and with logical reasoning and
investigation and with pleasant joy born of seclusion raised my mind to the
first high stage. When abiding in the first high stage of the mind, sensual
perceptions and thoughts assailed me.

Then the Blessed One approached me by psychic power and said:
`Moggallana, Noble Man! Do not be negligent! Establish, concentrate and bring
the mind to one point in the first high stage.'

Friends, in the meantime I secluded
the mind from sensual desires and thoughts of demerit and with logical
reasoning and investigation, with pleasant joy born of seclusion raised my mind
to the first high stage and abode.

Friends, saying it correctly, I am the
disciple, who attained great wisdom, with the compassionate help of the
Teacher.[13]

The Buddha also saved Angulimala, a killer, he wore a garland (mala) made of fingers[14] .And by the power of compassion, the Buddha saved a lot of women who
later became the Arahants [15]

The Northern Buddhism emphacized the
faith in Buddhha and Bodhisattva such asAmitābha and Guanyin. Through
his efforts , Amitābha created the "Pure Land" called Sukhāvatī
(Sanskrit:
"possessing happiness") . Sukhāvatī is situated in the uttermost
west, beyond the bounds of our own world. By the power of his vows, Amitābha
has made it possible for all who call upon him to be reborn into this land, there to undergo
instruction by him in the dharma and ultimately become bodhisattvas and buddhas in their
turn (the ultimate goal of Mahāyāna Buddhism). From there, these same
bodhisattvas and buddhas return to our world to help yet more people. Guanyin which means Observing the
Sounds (or Cries) of the World".

8). In Practice of Zen,Chang Chen Chi wrote: some
Buddhists failed due to lack of faith (335).

Buddhism is a religion of
wisdom, and will. The main path of
Buddhism is self reliance but the religious faith in supernatural beings is
also a second factor in our life. Thank
to the help of the Buddha and the
Bodhisattvas, we will succeed easily.
But first of all, we must distinguish the main factor from the dependent one. The self reliance is
one characteristic of Buddhism.

European proverb said:

Help yourself, God will help you"
Aide toi. Dieu t'aidera’’.Here
West meets East. This is the middle way in Buddhism, the middle way between theism
and atheism.

CHAPTER XIV

nililism and sunyata

There were many sects with its own philosophy and
practices in Brahmanism about the 5th century BC. Makhali Gosala, Keshakambalin, and the Jains
were the contemporaries of the Buddha. They discussed together about some metaphysic
topics and put many counter questions to
the Buddha, but the Bless One did not answer them. Some people considered
Buddha as a Nihilist, because the Buddha taught the change of things. The
Buddha also denied the self, feelings and sensation:

Ananda, matter is impermanent,
compounded and arise dependently and it is of the nature of withering, fading,
loosing interest and ceasing. The cessation of that is cessation.. . . Feelings.. . . perceptions
and intentions are impermanent, compounded and arise dependently and are of the
nature of withering, fading, loosing interest and ceasing. The cessation of
those is cessation. . . .

Consciousness is impermanent, that which is impermanent is
unpleasant, and that which is unpleasant is not self. That which is not self is
not mine, it is not I or my self. This should be seen as it really is, with
right wisdom.[16]

Because many people want to be rich
forever, not to be poor, beautiful not to be fade, healthy not to be sick,
therefore Buddha had to tell them the law of change, birth,
aging,
death,
and sorrow which are the real facts in our life and world, nobody
can avoid them. If they understand the Four Noble Truths, they will be happy.
Moreover, Buddha was a moralist, he encouraged
people to do good, not evils. Unfortunately, some Brahmins accused Buddha as nihilist, so he
denied that accusation:

37. 'So saying, bhikkhus, so proclaiming, I have
been baselessly, vainly, falsely, and wrongly misrepresented by some recluses
and brahmins thus: 'The recluse Gotama is one who leads astray; he teaches the
annihilation, the destruction, the extermination of the existent being.'.[17]

23. Bhikkhus, these two cloud the words of the Thus Gone
One Which two? The one who says the not uttered and not muttered by the Thus
Gone One . . and the one who says the uttered and muttered by the Thus Gone One
. .
.. Brahmin, I preach doing and not doing. How does good Gotama preach
doing and not doing? Brahmin, I say do not do misconduct by body, words and
mind and I say do no demeritorious thinking in any of the various spheres,
develop good conduct by body, words and mind and I say do meritorious thinking
in any of the various spheres. Brahmin, thus I say I preach doing and not
doing.[18]

In
fact, the concept of Sunyata was rarely encountered in early Pali text. After Buddha,
Sunyata was further developed by Nagarjuna and
the Madhyamaka
school, which is usually counted as an early Mahayana
school. Anyhow,
Buddhist Sunyata is different from nihinism. Sunyata
(Sanskrit) or Kuu, 空 (Chinese)
generally translated into English as "Emptiness" or
"Voidness". It is different from the doctrine of Nihilism, but widely
misconceived as a doctrine of nihilism

Sunyata signifies that everything is inter-related and
mutually dependent - never wholly self-sufficient or
independent. Sunyata is similar to I
Ching, the Book of Change[19],a dualistic yin-yang
doctrine. In our world, there are many pairs of contradiction. Hegel, Engels,
Lenin, Mao Zedong also focused on the contradiction such as Labor and capital, workers and
peasants, the old and the new, offence and defense, advance and retreat,
victory and defeat. .

.When the Marxists
conclude that contradiction means struggle, the new force destroys the old one,
and contradiction is the fundamental cause of its development. But in
the philosophy of Sunyata, I Ching and Tao Te Ching[20],
contradiction between things is relative. Yin
and yang are not contrary absolutely because Yin and Yang live together in one
thing. Inter-penetration allows the presence of yin in the interior of yang
and yang inside yin. In the philosophy of Sunyata, the Emptiness is relative.
For example, the sky is the
empty but in fact it is not, because it offers clouds to our perception, and it
has sun, moon, stars and many kinds of gaz.The Heart Sutra said:

form
is emptiness and the very emptiness is form ,emptiness
does not differ from form, form does not differ from emptiness, whatever is emptiness, that is form, the same is true of feelings,
perceptions, impulses, and consciousness.[21]

色不異空,空不異色

色卽是空, 空卽是色

Sunyata
is a philosophy based on a new logic. At the beginning of the ancient
philosophy,Aristotle’slaw of non-contradiction states that one
cannot say of something that it is and that it is not in the same respect and
at the same time. On the contrary, Heraclitus said
"I am as I am not". Heraclitus,Buddha, Lao Tsu, and Nagarjuna[22]
built e new dialectic based on the contradiction and dualism : A is not-A. not-A exists already in A , or becomes
a part of A.

According to these philosophers, change is real, and
stability illusory. From Nagarjuna, Sunyata transformed. The Book of Change said A in B, B in A, but Nagarjuna and his followers said A
is B. About the 5th
century AC, the Sunyata became a fashion , and the philosophers at that time
focused on no distinction between things such as good and evils, being and not being. In Diamond Sutra,
there are a lot of paradoxical and
irrational phrases:

what is called the highest teaching is not the highest
teaching" . . ."Subhuti,
the Thus Come One says that particles of dust are not particles of dust.
Therefore they are called particles of dust. The Thus Come One says that world
systems are not world systems. Therefore they are called world systems.
"Subhuti, what do you think, is it possible to see the Thus Come One in
his Thirty-two Physical Appearances?" "No World Honored One, it is
not possible see the Thus Come One in his Thirty-two Physical Appearances. Why?
The Thus Come One says that the Thirty-two Physical Appearances are not
physical appearances. Therefore they are called the Thirty-two Physical
Appearances [23]

Bodhidharma [24]was paradoxical too. One of the
fundamental Zen texts attributed to Bodhidharma is a four-line stanza whose
first two verses echo the Lankāvatāra Sūtra's disdain for words and whose second two verses stress
the importance of the insight into reality achieved through
"self-realization":

A special transmission outside the scriptures,

Not founded upon words and letters;

By pointing directly to [one's] mind

It lets one see into
[one's own true] nature and [thus] attain Buddhahood

He wrote a lot of books and taught many
disciples, but he put forth the techniques
of "direct pointing" at ‘’non-verbal reality’’直指真心,見性成佛- -不立文字. Those techniques caused the waves of objection even
among the monks. Huineng [25]said:

The nihilists disdain
letters and sutras and insist not to use letters.. If they do not use letters,
they should not speak too, because
speaking is a form of letters.[26]

Because of Nihilism and extremist
Sunyata, a number of masters forbid his disciples from reading sutras. Huineng said:

The sutras have no fault, why did they
forbid reading sutras? When read the sutras, we would have awareness and criticism. We are not the slave s of sutras .. [27]

In fact, in Buddhism, there are many
levels of Sunyata. Huineng also followed
Sunyata, but he was not an extremist: In a poem, Huineng expressed his thought of Emptiness:

菩提本無樹 Bodhi really has no tree,

明鏡亦非台 Nor is clear mirror the stand

本來無一物 Nothing's there initially

何處惹塵埃 So where can the dust motes land?

Huineng's
central insight is in pointing out the transient or "illusory" nature
of the physical world. "Bodhi has no tree," because our immortal souls are an entity
apart from the physical bodies we inhabit temporarily. Wisdom, awakening and
enlightenment are the attributes of this immaterial spirit, and exist with or
without the body. The true road is the road of intuitive insight, where we
progress beyond logic and reasoning. How can we traverse this path? With our entire
being, rather than just one hemisphere of the brain. Too much intellectual
sophistry leads nowhere except to more confusing and confounding complexity.
Huineng was poor and illiterate, with no special education, His story declared that the enlightenment is not related withthe school education[28]. The enlightenment is
what one awakes to, that cannot be earned.

Huineng always
focused on Emptiness:

What is Maha? It means 'great'. The capacity of the mind
is as great as that of space. It is infinite, neither round nor square, neither
great nor small, neither green nor yellow, neither red nor white, neither above
nor below, neither long nor short, neither angry nor happy, neither right nor
wrong, neither good nor evil, neither first nor last. All Buddha-Lands are as
empty as space. Intrinsically our transcendental
nature is empty and not a single dharma (thing, phenomena) can be attained. It
is the same with the Essence of Mind, which is a state of 'Absolute Emptiness'
(i.e., the Emptiness of Form)[29].

He also
emphasized the path of intuition and criticized the incapacity of words:

The truth and the words are two
different things.

The words can be compared with a
finger. We can show the moon with a finger, but the finger is not the moon. To
look at the moon means to look over the finger. The words are like a finger
pointing towards the truth. Generally speaking, we see only the finger. The
truth abide over the finger. Furthermore, Buddha-nature is not the fruit of
one's efforts; it can not be earned by virtue - namely a moral, virtuous life -
or by study. It represents the inborn quality of mind, given to all people with
no exception, whereon all of us should get awaken. The awakening is not a
mediate, but a sudden, instantaneous
process [30]

Many Buddhists were influenced by
Taoist philosophy. Sunyata is similar to Tao Te Ching, so Buddhism has been in harmony with
Taoism.

In fact, Nagarjuna, Bohdidharma, and
Huineng use the dialectic as a method for pointing out the relativity
of any metaphysical premise, and the ineffectiveness of words. The philosophers at that
time emphasized the importance of the "self-realization", and intuition.

In general, Buddha was not nihilist and
extremist because of many reasons:

1.the difference of things:

The Buddha‘s philosophy reflect reality. His philosophy and
morality are very clear, and true. He realized
exactly th essence of things. He was not extreme and mistaken like the
other philosophers.

Bhikkhus, these four things are far
apart.

The sky and earth are far removed, so
too the two shores of the great ocean,

The sun rises and sets far away, the
Teaching of the mind is different from other teachings.
The association with the mind is stable and stays as long as life lasts.

The Teaching not associated with the
mind wanes quickly

Therefore the Teaching of the mind is
far removed from other teachings. [31]

By the influence of Sunyata,
a lot of philosophers focused on the no-distinction. Indeed, on the view
of morality, and politics, sometimes we cannot have distinction such as
distinction of class, rank, race, etc because everybody is equal. But in
science, philosophy and morality, the distinction is one of the fundamental elements of knowledge and wisdom.

2
.DISTINCTION BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL

The Buddha is not nihilist because he always encourage his disciples to perform good deeds. He
affirms Heaven, Hell and the wheel of life of every being, and Nirvana is the
happiest world. The most important teachings
of the Buddha were the performance of virtue, and law of change. When Nihilism is a wrong view,
an extreme, Buddhism is the righteous
way.

Death is already in birth,
birth will come to death. The Buddha said:

-Shame on this thing birth, since to him who is born death must manifest
itself!’ . . ."Birth being
present, aging and death occurs, birth conditions aging and death."[32]

-Ananda, it so
happens, decay takes the place of youth, ailments the place of good health and
death the place of vitality[34] .

Like Lao Tzu, Confucius and Heraclitus[35], the Buddha emphasized
the change of things. They wererecognized as the earliest dialectical
philosophers with their acknowledgment of the
universality of change and development through internal contradictions.

Four Noble
Truths, law
of Paticcasammuppada, Dependent
Origination, and law of change are the Buddhist Middle Way. The Middle Way insists
the distinction between good and
evil, right and wrong. All the Buddhists must practice virtues and
distinguish good from evil. The Buddha said:

-Bhikkhus, I will teach the noble path and the ignoble
path, listen and attend to it carefully. Bhikkhus, what is the ignoble path?

Destroying living
things, taking the not given, misbehaving sexually, telling lies, slandering,
talking roughly, talking frivolously, coveting, bearing an angry mind and
upholding wrong view, this is said to be the ignoble path.[36]

Nagarjuna s’ philosophy is a new
thought system with the new concept of "emptiness," "void
ness," "lack" of essence, "rezones. According to Nagarjuna,
things in fact lack essence, things have no fixed nature, and indeed it is only
because of this lack of essential, immutable being that change is possible,
that one thing can transform into another. Each thing can only have its
existence through its lack (sunyata) of inherent, eternal essence.

Whatever can
be conceptualized is therefore relative, and whatever is relative is Sunya,
empty. Since absolute inconceivable truth is also Sunya, Sunyata or the void is
shared by both Samsara and Nirvana. Ultimately, Nirvana truly realized is
Samsara properly understood.[37]

The Buddha affirms the law of change and the distinction between
things and thus it is the middle way, the right way. The right and useful way
of religion is the way leading to virtue and morality. What do we do if we have
no distinction between good and evil? The distinction of things is the
fundamental factor of Buddhism on the view of morality and philosophy. It is
also a basic condition of logos and far
from the dialectic of some Northern Buddhist canon such as Diamond Suttra, and
Prajna Paramita.

Distinction is a fundamental feature of
logic and morality of the Buddha.

1.DISTINCTION
BETWEEN THINGS

The
most important philosophy of the Buddha is the `Middle Way, it avoids the extremes. The
Buddha said:

-'Everything exists': That
is one extreme. 'Everything doesn't exist': That is a second extreme.
Avoiding these two extremes, the Tathagata teaches the Dhamma via the middle:
From ignorance as a requisite condition come fabrications[38]

The philosophy of Buddhism is a philosophy about our world, our mind and our body. The Buddha
affirmed the Wheel of life consisting of Heaven, Hell, Human beings and
animals. He also emphasized his philosophy and his morality such as Four Noble Truths and Noble Eightfold Path.
The Buddha’s teachings are clear, not nihilistic and paradox.

2.DISTINCTION
BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL

Buddhism
is a religion of morality, it always help its followers how to distinguish good
from evil. In the Pali canon, we can see
a lot of moral lessons given by the Buddha:

The Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha are the basic principles of
Buddhism,and
known asTriple Gem . The Buddha said:

Indeed, the Blessed One is
worthy and rightly self-awakened, consummate in knowledge and conduct,
well-gone, an expert with regard to the world, unexcelled as a trainer for
those people fit to be tamed, the Teacher of divine and human beings, awakened,
blessed..."The Dhamma is well-expounded by the Blessed One, to be seen
here and now, timeless, inviting verification, pertinent, to be realized by the
wise for themselves..."The Sangha of the Blessed One's disciples who have
practiced well...[40]

Following
the Buddha s’ Teachings, the Buddhists must go to the Blessed One for
refuge, to the Dhamma and to the community of monks
for refuge.

Buddha
is the Teacher of divine and human
beings.The Buddha
pointed out the right path, and it is left for us to follow that path to obtain
our purification.According
to the Teaching of the Buddha anybody may aspire to that supreme state of
perfection if he makes the necessary exertion.

Dhamma
is the Buddha’s Teachings. The all-merciful Buddha has passed away, but the
sublime Dhamma still exists in its pristine purity. Dhamma is very important,
it is the soul of Buddhism. Dhamma is
also the Buddha’s images, and the Buddha’s representation. Before leaving this world, he
told to his disciples:

Live with
the Dhamma as your island, the Dhamma as your refuge, with nothing else as your
refuge [41] .

Unfortunately,
the Master has left no written records of His Teachings, His distinguished
disciples preserved them by committing to memory and transmitting them orally
from generation to generation. Until the 1st century BC, the entire scriptural
canon of the school was then rehearsed,
revised and committed to writing on palm leaves. At that time, a lot of
Mahayana canon appeared. Therefore, we must study carefully the sutras, and the
distinction in this case is necessary. The Buddha had foreseen this event:

8-11. Then the Blessed One said: "In this
fashion, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu might speak: 'Face to face with the Blessed One,
brethren, I have heard and learned thus: This is the Dhamma and the Discipline,
the Master's Dispensation'; or: 'In an abode of such and such a name lives a
community with elders and a chief. Face to face with that community, I have
heard and learned thus: This is the Dhamma and the Discipline, the Master's
Dispensation'. . . In such a case, bhikkhus, the declaration
of such a bhikkhu is neither to be received with approval nor with scorn.
Without approval and without scorn, but carefully studying the sentences word
by word, one should trace them in the Discourses and verify them by the
Discipline. If they are neither traceable in the Discourses nor verifiable by
the Discipline, one must conclude thus: 'Certainly, this is not the Blessed
One's utterance; this has been misunderstood by that bhikkhu -- or by that
community, or by those elders, or by that elder.' In that way, bhikkhus, you
should reject it. But if the sentences concerned are traceable in the
Discourses and verifiable by the Discipline, then one must conclude thus:
'Certainly, this is the Blessed One's utterance; this has been well understood
by that bhikkhu -- or by that community,
or by those elders, or by that elder.'[42]

4.The Sangha

The Sangha consists of all people, lay or ordained, who have
practiced the Dhamma to the point of gaining at least a glimpse of the
Deathless. In a conventional sense, Sangha denotes the communities of ordained
monks and nuns. All those who take refuge in the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha
become members of the Buddha's four-fold assembly (parisa) of followers:
monks, nuns, male lay devotees, and female lay devotees. But all the monks, and
nuns of all religions do not have the
same knowledge and virtue. We can divide them at least into two kinds: good and evil. The Buddha criticized bad monks:

Bhikkhus, since I see
a certain one wearing the three robes with covetousness, I say that, for the
matter of wearing the three robes one is not a recluse[43]

Who
are the bad monks? The Buddha said:

The bhikkhu associates
whores, lonely women, fat girls, weaklings or bhikkhunis. Bhikkhus, endowed
with these five things the bhikkhu becomes distrustful and anxious. Even with
good intentions, he becomes an evil bhikkhu. [44]

When the Buddha was still alive, he realized
some bad monks in his Sangha:

Even if a monk, taking hold of my outer
cloak, were to follow right behind me, placing his feet in my footsteps, yet if
he were to be greedy for sensual pleasures, strong in his passions, malevolent
in mind, corrupt in his resolves, his mindfulness muddled, unalert, uncentered,
his mind scattered, and his faculties uncontrolled, then he would be far from
me, and I from him. Why is that? Because he does not see the Dhamma. Not seeing the Dhamma,
he does not see me. [45]

Today,
there are a lot of pseudo monks and nuns who
are the secret agents of the evil forces penetrating the Pagodas, so we
must be careful with them. We must distinguish good monks from bad monks. The
Buddha said:

Bhikkhus,
who is the person that should not be associated? Bhikkhus, a certain person is
below par in virtues, concentration and wisdom. Such should not be associated
unless out of sympathy and compassion.[46]

Moreover, the Sangha must punish them:

Bhikkhus, throw him out! He is led
astray. What is the use of cleaning this son of another! To any person it might
occur in his approaching, receding, looking on, looking back stretching and
bending, bearing the three robes, taking bowl and robes, he is the same as any
other good bhikkhu - as long as his fault is not seen. When his fault is seen,he will be known as a highway robber recluse, a prattling
recluse, a recluse of rubbish. He should be known thus and others should not be
atoned for it. What is the reason? May other good bhikkhus not be spoilt.[47]

Because there
are two kinds of monks, we have to choose the good ones. The Buddha told
Kalamas how to choose a teacher, and how to analyse his explaining and
teachings:

Do
not go upon what has been acquired by repeated hearing; nor upon tradition; nor
upon rumor;. . .; nor upon the consideration, "The monk
is our teacher." Kalamas, when you yourselves know: "These things are
good; these things are not blamable;these
things are praised by the wise; undertaken and observed, these things lead to
benefit and happiness," enter on and abide in them.'[48]

Buddhism is a religion of will and wisdom, it is not
negative, nihilist or extremist.

CHAPTER xV

BUDDHISM
AND VEGETARIANISM

Vegetarianism is the practice of not
consuming the flesh of any animal or without also eschewing other animal derivatives,
such as dairy products or eggs
Some vegetarians also choose to refrain from wearing clothing that has involved
the death of animals, such as leather, silk and fur.
Vegetarians have varied motivations including religious, cultural, ethical,
aesthetic, environmental, social, economic, health, political, and personal
concerns.

Vegetarianism was not a part of the early Buddhist tradition and
the Buddha himself was not a vegetarian.

However, at the beginning of his holy life, Gotama was an ascetic,
and a vegetarian:

I accepted no fish or meat, I drank no liquor,
wine or fermented brew. . . I took food
once a day, once every two days...once every seven days, and so on up to once
every fortnight; I dwelt pursuing the practice of taking food at stated
intervals. I was an eater of greens or millet or wild rice or hide-parings or
moss or ricebran or rice-scum or sesamum flour or grass or cowdung. I lived on
forest roots and fruits, I fed on fallen fruits. Such was my asceticism.[49]

In
long run, Gotama realized that it had not provided him with a fully satisfying
answer to his problem. Therefore, he decided to eat again, he accepted a bowl
of milk from a maid, Sugata, and having
eaten and bathed in order to give himself enough strength to make a new start.
The Buddha was about 35 when he became Enlightened and he began to turn the Wheel of the Dhamma, and so was
born the Sangha with a lot of Commandments. The first Precept admonishes us
refrain from killing but meat eating is not regarded as an instance of killing.
As recorded in the Pali scriptures, the Buddha did not prohibit consumption of
meat, even by monks. The Buddha explained:

Jeevaka,
I say that on three instances meat should not be partaken, when seen, heard or
when there is a doubt. I say, that on these three instances meat should not be
partaken. I say, that meat could be partaken on three instances, when not seen,
not heard and when there is no doubt about it.[50]

In
the Theravada tradition, the monks
have to accept food including meat or fish offered by people without
discrimination or aversion. To reject such an
offering would be an offense against hospitality. Although
the Buddha put forward the Middle
Way, some monks still lived in the forest following the traditional
asceticism, and the Masterdid not
came down upon them. Many Buddhists especially Mahayanists practice vegetarianism as
the means of cultivating compassion.

Today it is often said that Northern
Buddhists are vegetarian and Southern Buddhists are not. However the situation
is a little more complex than that. Generally Theravadins have no dietary
restrictions although it is not uncommon to find monks and lay people in Sri Lanka who
are strict vegetarians. Others abstain from meat while eating fish. Chinese and
Vietnamese monks and nuns are strictly vegetarian and the lay community try to
follow their example although many do not. Amongst Tibetans and Japanese
Buddhists, vegetarianism is rare.

Vietnamese proverb says:

Eat meat and say truth is
better than

eat vegetables but tell lies.

Good qualities like patience, generosity and honesty and
bad qualities like pride, hypocrisy, jealousy and indifference do not depend on
what one eats and therefore diet is not a significantfactor in
spiritual development. Food is the
means not the goal.

CHAPTER
XVI

BUDDHISM AND SOCIETY

The
monks and nuns are the recluses, they do not pay attention to the world
affairs. But Buddhism is not a negative religion. They have two duties: they
have to liberate themselves and the human kind. They have to bring happiness to
man kind and all beings. The Buddha said in hisLast Admonition:

And what, bhikkhus, are these teachings? They
are the four foundations of mindfulness, the four right efforts, the four
constituents of psychic power, the five faculties, the five powers, the seven
factors of enlightenment, and the Noble Eightfold Path. These, bhikkhus, are
the teachings of which I have direct knowledge, which I have made known to you,
and which you should thoroughly learn, cultivate, develop, and frequently practise,
that the life of purity may be established and may long endure, for the welfare
and happiness of the multitude, out of compassion for the world, for the
benefit, well being, and happiness of gods and men."[51]

I. MONKS AND NUNS

Many
people think that monks and nuns are the recluses, and they do not have any
relationship with the world. However, they have a lot of works to do in their
holy lives. They have to study Dhamma and practice meditation in order to
attain Nibbana.

Moreover,
they have to study literature, culture and languages if they want to become
missionaries. Although they are the recluses, they work for society such as
nurses in hospitals or teachers in schools. To attain these goals, they must
work hard. They have to study Dhamma and
the general knowledge of their time. The Buddha said about three kinds
of wisdom:

According to the Buddha’s
teachings, a monk must learn many
things:

He has learnt much and bears in mind and
retains what he has learnt. In these teaching, beautiful in the beginning, the
middle and the ending which in spirit and in letterproclaim the absolutely perfected and purified holy life,
he is deeply learned, he remembers them, recites them, reflects on them, and
penetrates them with vision. [53] \

Then there is the case where a monk studies
the Dhamma: dialogues, narratives of mixed prose and verse, explanations,
verses, spontaneous exclamations, quotations, birth stories, amazing events,
question and answer sessions. He doesn't spend the day in Dhamma-study. He
doesn't neglect seclusion. He commits himself to internal tranquillity of
awareness. This is called a monk who dwells in the Dhamma.[54]

II. LAY FOLLOWERS

Householders
and the monks are in mutual dependence. The Buddha was open minded,
he realized the necessity of his lay followers in development of the Sangha,
so he praised them:

Monks, brahmans and householders are
very helpful to you, as they provide you with the requisites of robes, alms
food, lodgings, and medical requisites for the sick. And you, monks, are very
helpful to brahmans and householders, as you teach them the Dhamma admirable in
the beginning, admirable in the middle, admirable in the end; as you expound
the holy life both in its particulars and in its essence, entirely complete,
surpassingly pure. In this way the holy life is lived in mutual dependence, for
the purpose of crossing over the flood, for making a right end to stress.[55]

The
lay followers have to hold five Commandments but they have a lot of
rights such as to marry, to carry on business following the Buddha’s
Middle Way.

-There is the case where the disciple of the
noble ones - using the wealth earned through his efforts and enterprise,
amassed through the strength of his arm, and piled up through the sweat of his
brow, righteous wealth righteously gained -- provides himself with pleasure and satisfaction, and maintains that pleasure
rightly. He provides his mother and father with pleasure and satisfaction, and
maintains that pleasure rightly. He provides his children, his wife, his
slaves, servants, and assistants with pleasure and satisfaction, and maintains
that pleasure rightly. This is the first benefit that can be obtained from
wealth.[56]

Dhamma,
especially Noble Eightfold Path is the most important discipline for the lay
followers. In business, they must do good following the Buddha’s teachings.
While working, they can provide rightly
themselves, their family and their country with pleasure. The businessmen, the
peasants, the workers and the scholars can earn money righteously and
contribute their parts to the wealth of their country and the development
of Buddhism.

-Householder, the one enjoying sensuality earning money
righteously and considerately and with the money enjoying sensuality and
sharing it with others doing merit, partaking it, not enslaved not bound not
swooned, wisely seeing the danger and the escape from it, should be praised on
these four counts. For earning money righteously and considerately, for
enjoying sensuality himself for sharing it with others doing merit and for
partaking it not bound, not swooned, seeing the danger and the escape from it,
he should be praised on all four counts.[57]

The
lay followers also have the right to protect their property:

Here, bhikkhus, whatever wealth be to the clansman
achieved through manly vigour, righteously gained when toiling with his hands
while sweat dripped, he protects. This my wealth should be protected so that it
would not be carried away by the king, by robbers or water or burnt by fire. It
should not be carried away by unwanted inheritors. Bhikkhus, this is the
achievement of protection.[58]

We can apply the Dhamma to national affairs. We can follow the Noble
Eightfold Path, and the seven things for non decrease that
Buddha taught the Licchavis to build and to protect our country:

1.As long as the Vajjis
constantly come together and meet many times, their growth not decrease should
be expected.

2.As long as the Vajjis
get together in unity for their activities and dismiss in unity, their growth
not decrease should be expected.

3.As long as the Vajjis
do not appoint new rules and do not break already appointed rules and as long
as the ancient laws of the Vajjis are observed, their growth not decrease
should be expected.

4.As long as the Vajjis
honour, revere and esteem the elder Vajjis and consider to listen to them,
their growth not decrease should be expected.

5.As long as the Vajjis
do not use force and oppress women and girls of high clans to live with them,
their growth not decrease should be expected.

6.As long as the Vajjis
worship, esteem and honour the Vajji monuments internally and externally giving
whatever offerings earlier given without disturbing them, their growth not
decrease should be expected.

7.As long as the Vajjis
arrange the rightful protection of the worthy ones so that those who have not
come would come to the kingdom and those who have come would abide pleasantly,
their growth not decrease should be expected.[59]

The
Buddha ‘s teachings are as bright as the
lighthouses on the shore that can guide the boats on the sea in the dark
nights.

[22]Acharya Nāgārjuna, Chinese:
龍樹(c. 150 - 250CE); was
an Indian
philosopher, the founder of the Madhyamaka
(Middle Path) school of MahāyānaBuddhism, and
arguably the most influential Buddhist thinker after Gautama
Buddha himself. His writings were the basis for the formation of the
Madhyamaka (Middle Way) school, which was transmitted to China under the name
of the Three Treatise (Sanlun) School.

[24] BODHIDHARMA (fl. 526/527 CE) was
the Buddhistmonk
traditionally credited as founder of Zen in China.
He was a South
Indian monk who journeyed to southern China and subsequently
relocated northwards. The accounts differ on the date of his arrival, with one
early account claiming that he arrived during the Liú
Sòng Dynasty (420--479) and later accounts dating his arrival to the Liáng
Dynasty (502--557). The accounts are, however, generally agreed that he was
primarily active in the lands of the Northern
Wèi Dynasty (386--534).

[25] Huineng (慧能 or 惠能; ( 638--713) was the Sixth Patriarch of Chinese Chan Buddhism, as well as the last
official patriarch. Since then, there are unofficial "patriarchs" of
different lineages derived from Chan. He is said to have advocated an immediate
and direct approach to Buddhist
practice and enlightenment, and in this regard, is considered the founder of
the "Sudden Enlightenment" (頓教) Southern Chan school of Buddhism.
the primary work attributed to Huineng, the Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch (六祖壇經or法寶壇經) was a work attributed to Huineng,

[28] Huinang put forth the theory of "Sudden Enlightenment" (頓教). In my opinion, what he
attained when he was young was the results of his previous lives, not a sudden
result. It is a special case, not popular.

[35]Heraclitus
:a greekphilosopher
in 6th century BC. He said:
No man ever steps in the same river
twice, for it is not the same river and he is not the same man.".-Everything flows and nothing stands still, or All things are in motion and nothing remains
still.